French minister urges sanctions against Russia, England at Euro 2016

French minister urges sanctions against Russia, England at Euro 2016

Clashes break out in the stands after the Euro 2016 Group B soccer match between England and Russia at the Velodrome stadium in Marseille, France

France Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve has called to introduce sanctions against England and Russia after both sets of fans clashed after their Euro 2016 group phase match.

The match ended 1-1 at the Stade Velodrome in Marseille. The fans clashed after the match, injuring at least 35 people, reports Tass.

European football's governing body UEFA later started investigations against Russia for crowd disturbances, setting off of fireworks and making racist insults and is expected to impose a heavy sanction.

"I welcome the UEFA decision to impose sanctions on the teams whose pseudo fans have committed crimes. There should be no clemency towards them fromsports federations and sports bodies," Cazeneuve said on Sunday. Read more.

Russia raids on Syria city kill 23 civilians

Russia raids on Syria city kill 23 civilians

Russian warplanes pounded an Al-Qaeda-held city in northwestern Syria before dawn on Tuesday killing 23 civilians in the heaviest strikes in months, a monitoring group said.

Dozens of civilians were also wounded in the raids on Idlib, a provincial capital held by Al-Qaeda affiliate Al-Nusra Front and its allies since March last year, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

Al-Nusra is not party to a Russian-and US-brokered ceasefire that went into force on February 27 between Moscow-backed government forces and Washington-backed non-jihadist rebels.

"The air strikes are the most intensive on Idlib since the beginning of the truce," Observatory chief Rami Abdel Rahman told.

"Even though Idlib is not covered by the truce, it had been relatively calm with only intermittent raids," he added.

The strikes hit near a hospital and a public garden.

Moscow has been carrying out an air campaign in support of its Damascus ally since September last year.Read More